Town’s approach to those with disabilities earns accolades

The city includes a master list of wheelchair-accessible spaces on its Web site.

A Massachusetts town that goes beyond making itself accessible to those with disabilities has won a national award for its efforts. Cambridge, Mass., won the National Organization on Disability’s 2005 Accessible America competition, an annual contest funded by UPS and Wal-Mart.

With a population of 101,355 and 13,760 people with disabilities, Cambridge is similar in size to Santa Fe County. The judges look for a community that “goes beyond working for citizens with disabilities to working with citizens with disabilities” and that “actively seeks to attract people with disabilities as students, workers, tourists and residents.” Cambridge’s approach is instructive.

Highlights from its Accessible America application include: Its Commission for Persons with Disabilities includes 11 volunteers and two full-time staff. Cambridge employs a part-time access analyst to review incoming architectural drawings for compliance with accessibility codes. Each month, the commission staff teach disability awareness and etiquette to all new Cambridge cab drivers in their mandatory classes at the Cambridge Taxi School.

The city’s capital-improvement budget includes $50,000 a year for barrier removal in existing city buildings. A Facade Improvement Program offers matching grants of up to $35,000 to businesses to improve accessibility.

The commission offers training to business owners about accessible entrances, restrooms, floor plans, elevators and signage. It also promotes a better understanding of the needs of people with disabilities in restaurants, banks and clothing stores.

Cambridge has made more than two dozen parks and playgrounds accessible.

The city includes a master list of wheelchairaccessible spaces on its Web site so that all city public meetings are held in accessible places.
Cambridge started an Inclusion Initiative to increase the number of children with disabilities in its out-of-school-time programs. An inclusion specialist works with staff and families to adapt activities to include these children.
The commission sends three-person teams of people with different disabilities to public-school third-grade classrooms to answer students’ questions about their disabilities.

Cambridge has an outreach program to some 90 religious congregations to make their facilities, programs and services accessible. “Without good access, members who become disabled or have a child, partner/spouse or parent who is disabled find themselves left out of the very community and worship that sustains and nourishes their lives,” the application notes.

AccessLetter, a bimonthly publication of the Commission, includes feature articles, news items and a large calendar section that lists a variety of disability-related events in the area. Check it out at www.cambridgema.gov/DHSP2/disabilities.htm.